IOF continued to fire at Palestinian workers and farmers in border areas in the Gaza Strip.

- 5 Palestinian workers were wounded.

During the reporting period, 5 Palestinian workers were wounded when Israeli soldiers stationed at the border between the Gaza Strip and Israel fired at them while collecting raw construction materials.

In the Gaza Strip, IOF conducted one limited incursion into al-Qarara village, northeast of Khan Yunis, during which they leveled areas of Palestinian land, which they had already razed.

Thursday, 21 October 2010

At approximately 07:30, Israeli soldiers stationed on observation towers at the border between the Gaza Strip and Israel near Beit Hanoun (Erez) crossing opened fire at a number of Palestinian workers who were collecting raw construction materials from Erez industrial zone in the northern Gaza Strip.As a result, two workers were wounded:

1.'Omar Sabri Hamad, 24, from Beit Hanoun town, wounded by a bullet to the right foot; and2.Bassem Qassem Qassem, 23, from Beit Hanoun town, wounded by a bullet to the right foot

Friday, 22 October 2010In the morning, Israeli soldiers stationed on observation towers at the border between the Gaza Strip and Israel near Beit Hanoun (Erez) crossing opened fire at a number of Palestinian workers who were collecting raw construction materials from Erez industrial zone in the northern Gaza Strip.As a result, Zaki Sobhi al-Kafarna, 28, from Beit Hanoun, was wounded by a bullet to the left leg.

Sunday, 24 October 2010

At approximately 17:00, IOF moved nearly 350 meters into al-Qarara village, northeast of Khan Yunis town in the southern Gaza Strip.They leveled areas of Palestinian land, which they had already razed.This incursion continued until 01:00 on the following day.

Tuesday, 26 October 2010At approximately 09:45, Israeli soldiers stationed at Beit Hanoun (Erez) crossing in the northern Gaza Strip fired at a number of Palestinian workers, who were collecting raw construction materials from the debris of destroyed homes.As a result, Haitham 'Ali Shallah, 37, from al-Shoja'iya neighborhood in Gaza City, was wounded by a bullet to the right thigh, when he was nearly 300 meters away from the border.

Wednesday, 27 October 2010

At approximately 10:30, Israeli soldiers stationed at the border between the Gaza Strip and Israel, to the east of Beit Lahia town in the northern Gaza Strip, opened fire at a number of Palestinian workers who were collecting raw construction materials in al-Sayafa area in the north of Beit Lahia.As a result, Yousef Sami Ma'rouf, 19, was wounded by a bullet to the left thigh, when he was nearly 500 meters away from the border.

At approximately 11:20, Israeli forces stationed at the eastern border of the Gaza Strip fired two artillery shells at a number of activists of the Palestinian resistance in Abu Safiya area to the east of Jabalya refugee camp in the northern Gaza Strip.A shell hit the activists and killed Jihad Subhi 'Afana, 20, a member of the al-Quds Brigades (the armed wing of Islamic Jihad).The other shell hit a house belonging to Ahmed Isma'il Shabat, nearly 2,000 meters away from the targeted area, but no casualties were reported as the house was empty at that time.

The so-called “buffer zone” is a military no-go area that extends along the entire northern and eastern perimeter of the Gaza Strip's border with Israel, inside Palestinian territory, as well as at sea. The precise areas designated by Israel as “buffer zone” are unknown; changing Israeli policy is typically enforced with live fire.

Israeli Army Kills a Palestinian Citizen and Injures Three in Gaza

On Wednesday afternoon, a Palestinian man was killed by shrapnel fragments from an exploded artillery shell fired by Israeli tanks stationed in the town of Jabalya, in the northern Gaza Strip.

Medical sources at Kamal 'Adwan Hospital reported to the WAFA Palestine News Agency, that the citizen was identified as Jehad 'Afana, 20, who was transferred to the hospital following extensive injuries throughout his body from fragments of the exploded shell.

The source added that another two citizens from the town of Beit Hanoun arrived at the hospital after being injured with shrapnel shells. A worker who was injured by Israeli troops positioned in military towers near Beit Hanoun in the northern Gaza Strip, was also injured while he was collecting ballasts.

At app. 9:45am on Tuesday 26 October 2010, the Israeli occupation forces (IOF) opened fire at a group of Palestinian civilians as they were collecting scrap and rubble from the destroyed structures near the border fence between Gaza and Israel. The group was about 300 meters from the border fence near the Erez crossing in the North Gaza district when IOF fired at them. As a result, Haytham Ali Faraj Shalah, 37, was injured in the right thigh. Medical sources at Kamal Odwan Hospital described his injury as light. These workers left the area without finishing their works.

GAZA CITY (Ma'an) -- Medics said a Palestinian man with a mental disability was injured by Israeli fire near the northern border in the Gaza Strip on Tuesday.

The unnamed man, from the Ash-Shuj'aiyah neighborhood, sustained a gunshot wound to the leg near the Erez pedestrian crossing. He was taken to the Kamal Adwan Hospital, where his injury was described as moderate.

Israel's military did not return calls seeking comment.

On Thursday, Israeli forces fired live ammunition injuring two Gaza residents near the Strip's northern border a day after injuring a 65-year-old man near the border in the south, medics said.

Several Palestinians have sustained injuries as a result of Israeli fire near the border area. In particular, workers are regularly injured in the Israeli-imposed "no-go" zone, which forces consider a live combat area. Abu Salmiya said 17 workers, collecting gravel for construction use, have been injured by Israeli fire since the summer.

In a recent report, Defence for Children International said that "Due to a severe lack of job opportunities and a shortage of construction material entering Gaza from Israel, hundreds of men and boys scavenge for building gravel amongst the destroyed buildings close to the border fence."

DCI documented 12 incidents in which children were shot by Israeli forces in northern Gaza over the summer. The organization said reports indicated that soldiers also shot and killed the donkeys used by workers, as well as targeting the workers themselves.

In September, three Palestinians were killed near the border area in northern Gaza, including an elderly shepherd and two teenagers.

The Israeli army said shortly after that investigations into the killings have revealed that not all of them were "involved in an act of terror."

Following a Ma'an inquiry, Brig.-Gen. Eyal Eisenberg said in a statement that while the investigations into the incident have not yet concluded, "We understand from a re-creation that we undertook that the three casualties were not involved in act of terror."

IOF soldiers fire at, wound mentally retarded man

[ 26/10/2010 - 11:01 AM ]

GAZA, (PIC)-- A mentally retarded Palestinian man was hit with Israeli occupation army bullets near the Beit Hanun (Erez) crossing on Tuesday morning, medical sources reported.Adham Abu Salmiya, the spokesman for medical services, told the PIC that the man was slightly wounded after the Israeli occupation forces shot at him.The man was hit in his right thigh, he said, adding that he was hospitalized.Many Palestinians were wounded as a result of IOF firing at them especially the workers who collect gravel from the northern Gaza Strip devastated areas.

Monday, October 25, 2010

Israeli soldiers invaded, on Monday at dawn, an area east of Khan Younis, in the southern part of the Gaza Strip.

File - Israeli Tank Invading Southern Gaza

Local sources reported that the army fired rounds of live ammunition and several shells into farmlands east of the al-Qarara area in Khan Younis: damage was reported, but there were no injuries.

The army also uprooted trees on farmlands close to the Kissufim Israeli military base near the border.

On Sunday evening, the al-Quds Brigades, the armed wing of the Islamic Jihad, claimed responsibility for firing four mortars at Israeli soldiers who invaded al-Qarara.

A statement made by the Brigades claimed its fighters spotted an Israeli military force accompanied by armored vehicles invading an area east of al-Qarara and exchanged fire with them; no injuries were reported.

Friday, October 22, 2010

IOF continued to fire at Palestinian workers an farmers in border areas in the Gaza Strip. -Two Palestinian civilians, including a child, were wounded.

In the Gaza Strip, IOF conducted 5 limited incursions into Palestinian communities, during which they leveled areas of Palestinian land, which they had already razed.

During the reporting period, a Palestinian child was wounded when Israeli soldiers stationed at the border between the Gaza Strip and Israel fired at them while collecting raw construction materials.

On 20 October 2010, a Palestinian farmer was wounded by Israeli gunfire in Khan Yunis during an Israeli incursion.

Thursday, 14 October 2010

At approximately 08:00, Israeli soldiers stations on observation towers near Beit Hanoun (Erez) crossing in the northern Gaza Strip fired at a number of Palestinian workers who were collecting raw construction materials from Erez industrial zone. As a result, Yahia Mahmoud al-Za'anin, 16, from Beit Hanoun, was wounded by a bullet to the right leg, when he was 400 meters away from the crossing.

Sunday, 17 October 2010

At approximately 21:00, IOF moved nearly 350 meters into al-Snati area in 'Abassan village, east of the southern Gaza Strip town of Khan Yunis. They leveled areas of Palestinian land and opened fire indiscriminately. They withdrew from the area 3 hours later and no casualties were reported.

Monday, 18 October 2010

At approximately 08:00, IOF moved nearly 300 meters into 'Abassan village, east of the southern Gaza Strip town of Khan Yunis. They leveled areas of Palestinian land and withdrew 3 hours later.

Tuesday, 19 October 2010

At approximately 14:30, IOF moved nearly 30 meters into the east of the northern Gaza Strip town of Jabalya. They leveled areas of Palestinian land, which they had already razed.

At approximately 20:00, IOF moved nearly 350 meters into al-Qarara village, northeast of Khan Yunis. They leveled areas of Palestinian land, which they had already razed. Armed clashed erupted between IOF and members of the Palestinian resistance, but no casualties were reported.

Wednesday, 20 October 2010

At approximately 07:00, IOF moved nearly 300 meters into al-Fukhari area in the southeast of Khan Yunis. They leveled areas of Palestinian land, which they had already razed, and opened fire indiscriminately. As a result of the Israeli gunfire, Hussein Salman Abu Raida, 65, was wounded by a bullet to the neck, while he was cropping olives, nearly 1,000 meters away from the border between the Gaza Strip and Israel.

Thursday, October 21, 2010

Medical services spokesman Adham Abu Salmieh said the injured men were collecting rubble near Beit Lahiya, and were taken to Kamal Adwan hospital for treatment.

An Israeli military spokeswoman said she would look into the report.

Palestinian workers collect rubble and gravel in the area along the border fence to make cement.

In a recent report, Defence for Children International said "Due to a severe lack of job opportunities and a shortage of construction material entering Gaza from Israel, hundreds of men and boys scavenge for building gravel amongst the destroyed buildings close to the border fence."

DCI documented 12 incidents in which children were shot by Israeli forces in northern Gaza over the summer. The organization said reports indicated that soldiers also shot and killed the donkeys used by workers, as well as targeting the workers themselves.

Israel places severe restriction on the import of gravel into the Strip. At the current rate that Israel is allowing cement aggregates into Gaza, it would take 75 years for the UN to implement its reconstruction plan for Gaza, the report said.

Two Palestinians wounded in IOF shooting

[ 21/10/2010 - 09:01 AM ]

GAZA, (PIC)-- Two Palestinian citizens were wounded when Israeli occupation forces (IOF) fired at them in northern Gaza Strip on Thursday while collecting gravel, medical sources reported.Medical services spokesman Adham Abu Salmiya said that a 32-year-old citizen was hit in his left foot in northern Beit Lahia, describing his condition as light.He added that another 24-year-old Palestinian was hit in his right foot in the vicinity of Beit Hanun (Erez) crossing and was also hospitalized.

Wednesday, October 20, 2010

At approximately 7am on Wednesday 20 October 2010, Israeli tanks and armored bulldozers moved, under heavy fire, about 300 meters inside the Al Fokhari village near the Sofa crossing, in southeast of Khan Younis district.Bulldozers leveled the lands in the area. The Israeli occupation forces (IOF) opened fire at Palestinian houses and farms in the area. As a result, Hassan Salman Abu Reedeh, 63, was injured in the neck while he was collecting olives from his orchard, which is located about a kilometer from the separation fence between the Gaza Strip and Israel. Abu Reeda was admitted to the European Gaza Hospital. Medical sources described his medical situation as stable. At app. 11:30am on the same day, the IOF withdrew from the area.

By Mel FrykbergEREZ BORDER CROSSING, Northern Gaza, Oct 19, 2010 (IPS) - Crossing through the metal-caged tunnel that leads from the Israeli side of the border into northern Gaza towards the Palestinian checkpoint, several groups of young Palestinian men and boys can be seen scavenging through piles of rubble.

The twisted metal and shattered concrete are all that remain of Palestinian homes bombed and shelled by the Israel military during Operation Cast Lead Dec. 2008-Jan. 2009.

Suddenly several shots ring out. The fire comes from Israeli military guard towers and is aimed at the youngsters about 100 metres away. Israel has declared a 300-metre security zone between the Gaza border fence and northern Gaza.

Since the end of Cast Lead at least 25 Gazans, six of them children, have been killed by Israeli gunfire in the buffer zone. Another 146 have been wounded.

Defence for Children International reports that 10 young Palestinians have been shot in the past three months. The youngest was 13 and the oldest 17. Three horses and a donkey were also shot dead.

According to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) "uncertainty and lack of clarity are high regarding the precise boundaries of the restricted areas, the conditions under which access to these areas may be allowed or denied, and the consequences of a prohibited entry.

"Regarding the boundaries, the Israeli military has failed to physically demarcate the restricted areas in any meaningful way, even though it carries out land incursions into the restricted areas three to four times every week."

Karl Shembri from Oxfam in Gaza tells IPS, "besides farmers who are banned from working on their land accounting for more than 30 percent of Gaza's highly fertile soil, Israeli soldiers also shoot at Palestinians collecting rubble to be recycled for reconstruction from up to 1,500 metres from the fence, at times fatally.

"Not only are Palestinians denied construction material, they are shot at when trying to make up for the devastating shortage by recycling what's left of their destroyed houses and factories," adds Schembri. Israeli rights group Gisha reports that the amount of reconstruction material currently allowed into Gaza at present amounts to only four percent of what is needed. This has allowed some international aid projects such as sewage plants, water wells and community centres to be built. But most Palestinian homes and businesses remain either damaged or destroyed. The UN Works and Relief Agency (UNWRA) has been forced to turn away 40,000 Gazan children eligible to enrol in its schools for this academic year because it has been unable to build 100 new schools to meet enrolment demands. The shortage of classrooms has forced most of Gaza's schools to hold double shifts in classes accommodating up to 50 students. OCHA reports that since June 2009, a total of 46 percent of agricultural land in the Gaza Strip was assessed to be inaccessible or out of production owing to destruction of land during 'Cast Lead' and inaccessible areas lying within the "security buffer zone".

The area inside the buffer zone along the northern and eastern borders with Israel contains nearly a third of the Gaza Strip's arable land, and is inaccessible to farmers and herders.

IPS has regularly witnessed the boys working near the border. Many of those shot in this belt were wounded in the legs or arms in what appeared to be a warning.

Such is the grinding poverty and unemployment in Gaza, with 80 percent of the population dependent on food aid, that these youngsters regularly risk life and limb to earn what by Gazan standards is a good income.

A day's backbreaking work from dawn until sunset salvaging through rubble can net about 40 dollars. Both scrap metal and rubble are collected. Some of the collection sites are in the buffer zone.

Most commonly, chunks of concrete rubble are unearthed and ground down, and then remixed to make poor grade bricks which are then sold to contractors and factories. Because rubble-collecting is relatively lucrative, an increasingly large number of Gazans are venturing into buffer zones. (END)

GAZA CITY (Ma'an) -- Medics reported Wednesday that a 65-year-old man was injured by Israeli fire near the Sufa crossing east of Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip.

Gaza medical services spokesman Adham Abu Silmiyya said the unidentified man sustained a gunshot wound to the neck, which was described as a moderate.

Abu Silmiyya said the injured was transferred to the European Hospital in Khan Younis.

------------

Palestinian old man wounded in IOF shooting

[ 20/10/2010 - 12:54 PM ]

GAZA, (PIC)-- A 65-year-old Palestinian man was shot and wounded by the Israeli occupation forces (IOF) east of Rafah city, south of the Gaza Strip, on Wednesday morning, medical sources reported.Medical services spokesman Adham Abu Salmiya told the PIC that the old man was hit with a bullet in his neck in the vicinity of Soufa crossing.He added that the old man was carried to the European hospital where his condition was described as moderate.

At app. 8:30pm on Tuesday 19 October 2010, Israeli tanks and armored bulldozers moved about 500 meters in the vicinity of ‘Kissufim’ crossing point, east of Al Qarara village northeast of Khan Younis district. Bulldozers leveled lands in the area. The incursion last for about three hours.

Tuesday, October 19, 2010

At approximately 2:30pm on Tuesday 19 October 2010, six Israeli tanks and armored bulldozers moved under Israeli aircraft cover about 300 meters into the east of the Martyrs Cemetery east of Jabalia town, in North Gaza district. Bulldozers leveled lands that had been razed previously. In the evening hours on the same day, the IOF withdrew from the area. No casualties or injuries were reported.

At approximately 9:30am on Tuesday 19 October 2010, the Israeli occupation forces (IOF) opened fire at Palestinian civilians who were collecting scrap and rubble from the destroyed structures near the Erez Crossing in the north of the Gaza Strip. The shooting lasted for about ten minutes. No casualties or injuries were reported but the workers were terrified and left the area.

Friday, October 15, 2010

GAZA CITY (Ma'an) -- Israeli forces on Thursday shot at a Gaza teenager collecting rubble near the Strip's border with Israel, medics said.

Yahia Mahmud Az-Za'aneen, from Beit Hanoun in northern Gaza, was transferred to the Kamal Odwan Hospital with moderate injuries to his right leg. Medics said he was collecting aggregates near the Erez crossing.

An Israeli military spokesman was not familiar with the incident.

The spokesman confirmed that a 17-year-old Palestinian was injured by Israeli fire in the area Wednesday. Gaza medical services spokesman Abu Salmiya said that the teenager was the 17th worker injured by Israeli fire since the summer.

Palestinian workers comb the area along the border fence collecting rubble and gravel to make cement. The Israeli army has declared the area a "security buffer zone." In effect, this zone extends up to a kilometer into Gaza.

Construction materials are mostly banned from the coastal enclave under Israel's siege policy, hampering the Strip's reconstruction following Israeli offensives. The UN estimates at least 6,000 homes were either destroyed or severely damaged during Israel's last war on Gaza, Operation Cast Lead.

---------

Israeli Troups Shoot a Palestinian Youth in Gaza Strip

A Palestinian youth was wounded, on Thursday afternoon, by Israeli soldiers near Beit Hanoun in the northern Gaza Strip.

Medical sources reported that the youth, Yahia al-Za'anin, 17 years old, was wounded in his leg by a rubber-coated bullet, while he was collecting ballasts near Beit Hanoun. The youth was moved to Kamal Adwan Hospital where his injuries were described as mild.

Thursday, October 14, 2010

IOF continued to fire at Palestinian workers an farmers in border areas in the Gaza Strip. -Two minor workers were wounded.

Thursday, 07 October 2010

At approximately 15:40, Israeli soldiers stationed on observation towers at the border between the Gaza Strip and Israel to the northwest of the northern Gaza Strip town of Beit Lahia opened fire at a number of Palestinian workers who were collecting raw construction materials from a site where the evacuated Israeli settlement of "Elli Sinai" used to stand. As a result, Mahmoud Ziad 'Abdul Jawad, 17, from Beit Lahia, was wounded by a bullet to the right thigh, when he was 400 meters away from the border.

Wednesday, 13 October 2010

At approximately 08:40, Israeli soldiers stationed on observation towers at the border between the Gaza Strip and Israel to the north of the Bedouin Village in the northern Gaza Strip fired at a number of Palestinian workers who were colleting raw construction materials from the industrial zone. As a result, Ahmed Tawfiq Abu Hashish, 17, from the Bedouin village, was wounded by a bullet to the right foot, when he was approximately 600 meters away from the border.

Wednesday, October 13, 2010

GAZA CITY (Ma'an) -- A Palestinian teenager was injured by Israeli fire on Wednesday while he collected construction aggregate in the the Al-Qaraya Al-Badawiya area in northern Gaza near the Erez crossing.

Gaza medical services spokesman Adham Abu Salmiya said an unnamed 17-year-old was injured and transferred to the Kamal Udwan Hospital for treatment.

Workers are regularly injured by Israeli fire in the imposed "no-go" zone, which forces consider a live combat area. Abu Salmiya said that 17 workers, collecting gravel for construction use, have been injured by Israeli fire since the summer.

An Israeli army spokeswoman confirmed the injury but was unable to identify the age of the injured. She said forces "identified a hit" after opening fire at the feet of a group of "suspects" approaching the area. Prior to opening fire toward them, she said, forces had called on the group to retreat and fired warning shots in the air.

The Israeli occupation forces (IOF) continue to open fire at Palestinian civilians who collect scrap and rubble from the destroyed structures near the border fence between Gaza and Israel.At approximately 9am on Wednesday 13 October 2010, the IOF opened fire at a group of Palestinian civilians who were about 500 meters from the border fence near the Bedouin (Um An-Naser) village, in the North Gaza district. As a result, Ahmed Tawfeeq Abu Hashesh, 17, was injured in the right leg. Medical sources at Kamal Odwan Hospital described his injury as moderate.

Sunday, October 10, 2010

“This tree is blessed for us and our grandfathers and ancestors have taken care of this tree for generations. I grew up with an olive tree in our back yard and it represents the peaceful life we had always lived on these lands. Now our olive groves are bulldozed and farm workers are shot at so we are here in solidarity with farmers whose lives are made impossible by the Israeli siege and occupation.”
This is how much it meant to Mohammed el Massry, a 20 year old student in Al Azhar University to enter a high risk area to help farmers begin the olive harvest and help maintain land that used to be the breadbasket of the Palestinian economy. In what turned out to be a beautiful day’s climbing, picking and bagging of black and green olives, Mohammed joined other members of the Beit Hanoun ‘Local Initiative’ group accompanied by 4 International Solidarity Movement activists to help farmer Abzel Al Baseony begin the Olive harvest 300 metres from the Erez border wall with Israel.
Beginning early on Tuesday morning, farm workers, Palestinian and international activists marched with flags, buckets, step ladders and hessian bags ready for a morning’s work picking olives, accompanied by the cameras of Arabic and international media. Around the unilaterally imposed Israeli buffer zone – a 300 metre wide belt of land along the Israeli border, farm workers have been picked off by snipers and shelling as a matter of course, often over a kilometer beyond the designated area. A month ago near to where we were picking the olives Grandfather Ibrahim Abu Sayed, his 17 year-old grandson and friend were mutilated and killed by Israeli tank shelling despite being twice as far from the border as we were.
Khalil Nasir, coordinator of the Local Initiative group sees farmers as the first line of resistance: “We’re here today to offer some support for the farmers who have continued the resistance to the occupation everyday of their lives, not letting go of these lands so near to the Israeli wall. Last month three farm-workers were directly shelled, when all they were doing were tending to their sheep and animals. We thank them for the life they left behind and we want to give farmers along the border whatever support we can.”
Shootings of farmers and destruction of their land are not exceptions – the dangers of farming in the bufferzone were comprehensively documented in the recent United Nations and World Food Programme report: “Between the Fence and a Hard Place”. It concluded that the violence used to restrict Palestinians from accessing their land covers areas up to 1500m from the border fence, meaning that over 35% of Gaza’s most agricultural land is in a high risk area causing severe losses of food production and livelihoods.
This does not stop farmers and their families from continuing to plant and harvest there, their livelihoods and resistance far too important to prevent them from working their own land. Nor are the regular demonstrations ceasing despite being confronted by frequent live gunfire and many of the demonstrators were pleased to show direct solidarity by picking the olives.
“We have been shot at near here before on peaceful demonstrations”, said 22 year old student Anwar Alaaneen. “I’m here in solidarity with the farmers in Beit Hanoun who are always under threat from shooting and shelling when their land is so close to the Israeli fence. The international community should allow us the right to farm our own land, instead of allowing Israel to continue to commit these crimes.” she added.
Unbeknown to the olive pickers, nearby in the North of Gaza in Beit Lahiya a farm worker in the Siafa area 27 year old Zeyad Mohammed Tambora now and then worked for a farmer in Siafa area, had just finished picking strawberries when suddenly with no warning his right foot was hit by a bullet. He was carried back by his 2 cousins from the farmland at about 300 meter from the fence and they escorted him to a waiting car on a donkey cart. Arriving at hospital Tuesday at about 10.00 AM Zeyad then underwent surgery to stop the bleeding. The bones in his foot are smashed and according to doctors he might have problems to walk for the rest of his life and he is not expected to be walking for a few months.
Whether its for strawberry picking, olive picking or wheat gathering, incidents like this happen on a daily basis in this region. Two days before and last week, two more workers were slightly injured by firing from the border.
The farmer whose olives we were picking laments the history behind the continuous attacks on their land and the destruction of their life before. “There used to be many trees in this area, they bulldozed them and although we have lost so much we have continued to farm it”, said Abzel Al Baseony the farmer whose olives we were picking. “Everyone is afraid coming here to farm. They take photos of us from the control towers so they know who we are yet they still just shoot whenever they want at whatever they want. I’ve been here since 1984 and my father farmed this land before me. We will keep farming.”

In three months, soldiers shot and wounded 10 youths collecting building materials in expanded buffer zone.

In the course of three months this summer Israeli soldiers shot and wounded 10 Palestinian teenagers who collect building materials from demolished structures in the former Israeli settlements and the Erez industrial zone in the northern Gaza Strip, dozens or hundreds of meters from the border. Palestinians believe the shootings are aimed at keeping people away from these areas, but despite the great risk dozens of nearby residents, many of them minors, continue to come in order to collect bits of cement and gravel from inside the buildings that were destroyed by the Israel Defense Forces around the time of the 2005 disengagement, and sell them to contractors and factories in the Strip. According to Gisha, an Israeli nongovernmental organization that monitors the effects of the blockade of the Gaza Strip, the quantity of building materials that Israel has permitted into the Strip since a partial lifting of the closure was announced, in June, is around 4 percent of what is needed. The cement that is imported from Egypt via the tunnels is insufficient, and too expensive, to fill the gap.

The ruins of the evacuated settlement Elei Sinai, where Gazan teens salvage cement and gravel.

Photo by: Limor Edrey

The practice of salvaging usable building materials highlights two of Gaza's major, intractable problems: on one hand, the chronic shortage of building materials due to the closure, which Israel intensified after July 2007, and the large number of buildings destroyed during Operation Cast Lead; on the other hand, Gaza's high unemployment and poverty rates. More than half of the available workforce in the Strip is unemployed, and more than 80 percent of Gazan families are dependent on direct aid of food and money. Defence for Children International-Palestine Section collected statements from the 10 teens shot by the IDF between May 23 and August 25. The youngest is 13 years, the oldest 17. Most are from the northern Strip - Beit Hanun, Beit Lahia, Jabalya - while others live in Gaza City. Every day dozens of people come to the ruins of the industrial zone and the settlements, such as Elei Sinai, in wagons drawn by donkeys or horses. One of the teens, who was shot on August 25, told Defence for Children that in recent months soldiers also shot and killed one of the donkeys and three of the horses. Most of the children tell of a father who is unemployed. Some were among the thousands of Gazans who worked in Israel up until 2006, when their work permits were revoked. The father of one of the teens was forced to close his store as a result of Israel's ban on the entry of goods it did not define as "humanitarian" into the Strip. After the death, about two years ago, of a 14-year-old shooting victim identified as "N.," the teen dropped out of school to help support his family. That is the story of all these teens, dropping out and going out to work. They all said in their statements that they are afraid to go back to collecting gravel. Some have difficulty walking or carrying heavy loads as a result of their injuries. Some of the teens sold vegetables in the streets of Gaza City, earning only about NIS 20 or NIS 30 per day, before hearing from neighbors or acquaintances that one could make NIS 40 or more from collecting gravel. They would leave their homes at around 4:30 or 5 A.M. Each of the 150 to 200 people working in the ruins had sacks, shovels and carts. They often noticed soldiers observing them, either on the sand dunes, sometimes lying down and aiming their rifles at them, or on the watchtowers. One of the injured boys reported seeing one soldier firing a machine gun while the one next to him looked through binoculars. The teens said the soldiers fired into the air when anyone came too close to the border, and sometimes fired tear-gas canisters at them. "M.," 16: "In the beginning I was afraid to go to the place because soldiers in the watch towers sometimes opened fire at us or in the air. We would run away and come back when the shooting stopped. Sometimes we didn't come back at all. He learned from his fellow workers to watch for birds flying away from the watchtowers. It was a sign to start running, as it meant soldiers were climbing into the towers and the shooting would soon begin. June 23 began quietly in the Erez industrial zone, as M. tells it. He estimates that he was working about 500 meters from the border. "At around 8:30 A.M, I was collecting gravel when I heard children around me shouting, 'Run, they're going to shoot from the tower.' I looked toward the tower and saw many pigeons flying away, so I quickly started to run away ... I felt something very hot tearing my side apart ...." M. remembers being frightened by the sound of the shooting and calling out for help. Another teen, a relative of his, grabbed his hand and told him to run. "I started running," M. continued, "but I felt really tired and sat down on the ground feeling the pain grow in my stomach ..." M. lost consciousness. Several men picked him up, placed him on a cart and then took him by car to a hospital, where he remained for three days. The majority of the teens received injuries to the extremities, most in the lower leg but some in an arm. All say they were between 50 and 800 meters from the border when they were shot. In the past two years the IDF has widened the buffer zone, the area along the Gazan side of the border fence that Palestinians are prohibited from entering. Palestinians note that in thousands of pamphlets that the IDF dropped into the Strip they were instructed to remain at least 300 meters from the border. But people have been shot at a distance of even one, or one and a half kilometers from the border. According to United Nations figures, since the end of Operation Cast Lead in January 2009 at least 25 Gazans, six of them children, have been killed by Israeli gunfire on the buffer zone. Another 146 have been wounded. This policy of widening the buffer zone is particularly harmful to farming in the Gaza Strip, since about 35 percent of the territory's arable land is within the prohibited zone. The IDF Spokesperson said in a response: "In recent years there have been many incidents of terror activity against IDF forces operating near the security fence and of attempts to infiltrate into Israeli territory to carry out attacks against Israeli citizens, often while pretending to be civilians." The statement cited the explosion near the border, on May 25, of a donkey cart loaded with explosives and driven by a Palestinian boy. "In light of the fear of such terror activity near the border, in mid-2008 the IDF defined the swath of territory 300 meters from the border fence as no-go area for the Palestinian population and delivered a request to this effect by distributing Arabic-language pamphlets in the Gaza Strip. It must also be emphasized that the IDF endeavors to avoid injury to innocent civilians and will examine every complaint submitted in regard to the conduct of our forces, in accordance with the policy that is in effect and that has been reiterated on numerous occasions.

Thursday, October 7, 2010

At approximately 4:20pm on Thursday 7 October 2010, the Israeli occupation forces (IOF) open fire at Palestinian civilians who were collecting scrap and rubble from the destroyed structures near the border fence between Gaza and Israel. They were 450 meters from the border fence near the evacuated settlement Eli Sinai, northwest of Beit Lahyia town in the North Gaza district. As a result, Mahmoud Ziyad Abdel Jawad, 19, who is a resident of Beit Lahyia, was injured in the left thigh. Medical sources at Kamal Odwan Hospital described his injury as moderate.

This incident comes in the context of IOF’s continued attacks near the border fence between Gaza and Israel, which is believed to aim at imposing a no-go zone along the fence. While IOF declared the restricted area to be 300 meters inside the Gaza Strip, incidents of firing at civilians,; especially farmers and scrap collectors, occur as far as a kilometer from the border.

IOF continued to fire at Palestinian workers an farmers in border areas in the Gaza Strip.

-A worker was wounded.

In the Gaza Strip, IOF conducted one limited incursion into the northern Gaza Strip, during which they chased a number of Palestinian workers who were collecting raw construction materials.

Friday, 01 October 2010

At approximately 23:20, Israeli soldiers stationed on observation towers at Beit Hanoun (Erez) crossing in the northern Gaza Strip opened fire at dozens of Palestinian workers who were collecting raw construction materials to the northwest of the northern Gaza Strip town of Beit Hanoun, 600 meters away.The workers fled from the area leaving their tools and carts.At approximately 00:30 on the following day, they went back to the area to take their tools and carts, but they were surprised by an Israeli incursion into the area.They fled from the area.No casualties were reported.

Tuesday, 05 October 2010

At approximately 09:15, Israeli soldiers station on a hill at the border between the Gaza Strip and Israeli to the northwest of Beit Lahia town fired at a number of Palestinian workers who were collecting raw construction materials from the evacuated Israeli settlement of "Elli Sinai."As a result, Ziad Mohammed Tanboura, 27, from Beit Lahia, was wounded by a bullet to the left foot, when he was 500 meters away from the border.

Tuesday, October 5, 2010

GAZA CITY (Ma’an) -- A man identified by medics as a laborer was shot by Israeli fores in the northern Gaza Strip on Tuesday afternoon, as he was collecting stone aggregates for a construction company.

Medical services coordinator in Gaza Adham Abu Silmiyyeh said a 27-year-old man sustained a gunshot wound in the left leg and was transferred by ambulance to the Kamal Udwan Hospital in Jabaliya.

The shooting is the fourth reported in the past week, with workers injured and taken to hospital. Israeli forces have said that the men were identified by soldiers as they approached the no-go zone, a unilaterally declared buffer area inside the Gaza Strip reaching some 1,000 meters wide in some points according to the UN, fired warning shots and when workers failed to retreat shot at their lower bodies.

An Israeli military spokeswoman said she would look into the latest report.

Israeli occupation forces (IOF) continue to open fire at Palestinian civilians who collect scrap and rubble from the destroyed structures near the border fence between Gaza and Israel. At approximately 9:45am on Tuesday 5 October 2010, the IOF opened fire at a group of Palestinian civilians who were about 600 meters from the border fence near the evacuated settlement Eli Sinai, northwest of Beit Lahyia town in the North Gaza district. As a result, Ziyad Mohammed Jamil Tanbura, 27, who is a resident of Beit Lahyia, was injured in the left leg. Medical sources at Kamal Odwan Hospital described his injury as moderate.

Palestinian worker injured in IOF shooting northern Gaza

[ 05/10/2010 - 11:40 AM ]

BEIT HANUN, (PIC)-- A Palestinian worker was wounded on Tuesday when Israeli occupation forces (IOF) fired at him east of Beit Hanun town to the north of the Gaza Strip.Adham Abu Salmiya, the spokesman for military medical services, told the PIC that the worker was hit with a bullet in his heel, describing his condition as moderate.He explained that the citizen was collecting remains of destroyed buildings in northern Gaza, adding that the IOF soldiers were daily targeting those workers in a bid to terrorize them away from the area.

Monday, October 4, 2010

At app. 8am on Monday 4 October 2010, several Israeli tanks accompanied by three armored bulldozers moved around 100 meters into the east of Wadi Gaza (Gaza Valley) village. Bulldozers leveled agricultural land in the area.No casualties or injuries were reported.

GAZA CITY (Ma'an) -- Several Israeli military vehicles crossed the Gaza border on Monday into the central district near the Al-Bureij refugee camp, Gaza government police told Ma'an.

Police said two Israeli tanks and four Israeli bulldozers entered 150 meters into the central district, searching the area and bulldozing land.
The Israeli army regularly conducts similar searches in the area.

GAZA, (PIC)-- Israeli occupation forces (IOF) mounting tanks advanced into eastern Gaza city on Sunday during the funeral procession of the wife of Palestinian health minister Basem Naim.
PIC reporter said that the advance was seen during the procession in which ministers in the government, MPs and national and Islamic leaders were present.
He pointed out that a number of participants did not continue to walk in the procession until the burial ground of Abir Naim, who passed away in Cairo on Saturday after two months of undergoing an operation to remove a cancerous tumor in her intestines.
An official participating in the funeral told the PIC reporter that the IOF provocation was a blatant violation on the sanctity of the dead and of human rights.

Saturday, October 2, 2010

At approximately 1:10am on Saturday 2 September 2010, Israeli occupation forces (IOF) opened heavy fire on Palestinian civilians who were 300 meters from the northern separation fence between the Gaza Strip and Israel. These civilians were attacked while they were collecting scrap and rubble from the destroyed structures in the vicinity of Erez crossing, in North Gaza district.

According to Al Mezan's field investigations, Israeli troops moved into the area and deployed there. Several hours later, the civilians left the area. No casualties or injuries were reported.

About this blog

This is a blog about Gaza farmers, workers and all the civilian population living in Gaza Strip rural communities along the Green Line, suffering from daily Israeli attacks and resisting the implementation of a so called "buffer zone" by the Israeli Occupation Forces.

Note: this blog is focusing on Israeli attacks on civilians inside or around the so called "buffer zone". Attacks on resistance fighters, or attacks, usually airstrikes on civilians further inside the Gaza Strip, or along the Egypt border (apart from the eastern areas such as Al Shoka or the airport area) are usually not mentioned. For the attacks of the Israeli Navy see http://fishingunderfire.blogspot.com/